Freely suspended return roller assembly for rope side frame conveyors



Aug. 14, 1962 R. F. LO PRESTI FREELY SUSPENDED RETURN ROLLER ASSEMBLYFOR ROPE SIDE FRAME CONVEYORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1960 Aug.14, 1962 R. F. LO PRESTI 3,049,220

FREELY SUSPENDED RETURN ROLLER ASSEMBLY FOR ROPE SIDE FRAME CONVEYORSFiled April 18, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I l l l Uite Stats 3 049,220FREELY SUSPENDED RETURN ROLLER ASSEM- BLY FOR ROPE SEE FRAME CONVEYORSRoy 15. Lo Presti, Chicago, 111., assignor to Goodman ManufacturingCompany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 18, 1960,Ser. No. 23,089 1 Claim. (Cl. 198-192) This invention relates in generalto rope side frame conveyors and more particularly to a novel structurefor supporting freely suspended return roller assemblies.

A rope side frame conveyor normally has flexible ropes carried bysupport stands placed at regular intervals along the path of theconveyor assembly. The support stands generally are comprised of twotelescoping members connected by a rigid crossbar. The members carryrope seats and clamps at their upper extremities. The flexible ropes areclamped in the rope seats on each of the support stands along the pathof the conveyor and normally support troughing idler assemblies atspaced intervals between the longitudinally aligned stands.

it is common practice to provide return roller assemblies at spacedintervals along the path of the conveyor to support the return reach ofthe conveyor belt. In one construction return rollers are mounted forrotation about a fixed axis on each support stand, or alternate supportstands, depending upon the type of terrain on which the conveyor isoperated. Such a return roller assembly, however, presents a number ofdifficulties. Belt training is desired for the maintenance of propertravel of the return reach as well as the carrying reach of the conveyorbelt. Consequently, the stands must be maintained in proper transverserelationship to the return reach of the conveyor belt to prevent acanted eflect from existing between .a return roller and the returnreach. This canting of the rollers exerts a lateral force on the returnreach with consequent belt detraining elfects. Proper transversealignment of the stands is difficult to establish and in addition theyare easily kicked or moved out of line in operation.

The freely suspended return roller assemblies eliminate a substantialamount of the detraining effect on the return reach of the conveyorbelt. To provide additionally improved return reach training, however,the center portion of the return roller is enlarged to provide asocalled fat roller. This improvement is embodies in a co-pendingapplication entitled Automatic Belt Training Roller Assembly for BeltConveyor, Serial No. 807,227, filed April 17, 1959.

A remedy for this situation is to remove the return rollers from therope supporting stands and freely suspend them from speciallyconstructed return roller assembly support clamps and hangar chainssecured to the ropes and spaced at appropriate intervals between therope supporting stands. The requirement of specially designed chain andhangar support means for the freely suspended return roller assembliespresents increased cost problems to the manufacturer.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a simpleand inexpensive support means for freely suspended return rollers of arope side frame conveyor.

Another object is to provide a rope side frame conveyor having unitarysupport means for the flexible ropes and the freely suspended returnrollers.

Still another object is to provide unitary support means for theflexible ropes and the freely suspended return rollers of a rope sideframe conveyor wherein sufficient clearance is provided between a returnroller assembly and a support stand to allow canting of the returnroller.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an elongated seatfor the flexible ropes of a rope side frame conveyor which is carried bya support stand and includes means for releasably suspending theflexible support ropes of a freely suspended return roller.

This and other objects of this invention will appear in the followingspecification and claim wherein like reference numerals identify likeparts throughout.

The invention is shown somewhat diagrammatically in the drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a portion of a rope side frame conveyorshowing ropes and freely suspended return roller assemblies supported bystands spaced longitudinally of the conveyor,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation taken generally through line 22 of FIGURE1,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the portion of the rope side frameconveyor taken generally along line 33 of FIGURE 2, and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the return roller taken along line 44 ofFIGURE 3.

Shown generally at 2 in FIGURE 1 is a portion of a rope side frameconveyor. A series of regularly spaced support stands 4 carry theflexible ropes 6 of the conveyor assembly at their upper extremities.Suspended from the ropes 6 at longitudinally spaced intervals aretroughing idler assemblies 8. The troughing idler assemblies support acarrying reach 10 of a conveyor belt. Freely suspended from alternatesupport stands and shown generally at 12 are return roller assemblies.The return rollers support the return reach 14 of the conveyor belt.

A support stand 4 comprises a pair of upright telescoping members 16 and18. Members 16 and 18 are supported by ground engaging base plates 20and 22. Rigidly connecting the upright members approximately midwaybetween their upper and lower extremities is crossbar 24.

Supported on top of each of the upright members 16 and 13 are elongatedrope seats 26 and 28. Rope seats 26 and 28 are identical in structureand include longitudinally extending generally upright flanges 30 and32. A web 34 connects the upright flanges 30 and 32 at their bases. Theweb 34 has an ear 36 extending downwardly at right angles to the web atone end. Ear 36 has a hole 38 and a contiguous slot 40 therein. Eachrope seat is mounted on its respective supporting member so as to have amajor portion of its length on one side of said member. Threaded in eachof the upright flanges 30 at a point in longitudinal alignment with acorresponding support member is a wing screw 42. Wing screw 42 carries aclamp 44 thereon and clamp 44 is adapted to engage flange 32 as bestshown in FIGURE 2.

The flexible ropes 6 are supported in the rope seats between the flanges3'0 and 32. A clamp 44 engages a rope 6 in locking relationship with aflange 32 to fixedly secure a rope in its seats.

Releasably suspended in the slots 40 of the ears 36 are link chains 46and 48. Chains '46 and 48 carry at their lower extremities inverted Ushaped brackets 50 having eyes 52 and 54 in their downwardly extendinglegs. Removably insertable in eyes 52 and 54 therein is locking pin 56.

The return roller assembly 12 is comprised of a roller having a centerportion 58 of enlarged diameter and side portions 60 .and 62 of somewhatsmaller diameters than center portion 58. The roller rotates unitarilyabout dead shaft 64. Dead shaft 64 has a slot 66 machined in the bottomsurface of each end of the shaft longitudinally of the conveyor. Bracket50 fits overthe ends of the dead shaft 64 in snug relationshiptherewith. Pin 56 has freedom of movement through pin slots 52 and 3 54and slot 66 when the dead shaft is engaged by the brackets.Consequently, when pin 56 is inserted, the freely suspended chains 46and 48 are secured to the ends of the dead shaft 64.

As is best seen in FIGURE 2, the chains 46 and 48 diverge slightlybetween ears 36 and the outer ends of the dead shaft 64. This is tofacilitate the canting movement of the return roller 12 in adaptingitself to the direction of travel of the return reach of the conveyorbelt. In practice the supporting chains 46 and 48 may diverge, as shown,converge, or extend perpendicularly downward in relation to the returnroller. The peculiar advantages of each of these relationships are setout in detail in a copending application entitled Supporting Structurefor Belt Conveyor, Serial No. 772,106, filed November 5, 1958.

The use, operation, and function of this invention are as followsiLongitudinally extending rope seats 26 and 28 are secured at the top ofthe upright members of each support stand. Ears 36 extend downwardlyfrom the extended ends of the rope seats upstream of each of the supportstandards, as best seen in FIGURE 3. As described above, the rope sidestrands are secured in the seats 26 by clamps 44 carried by wing screws42.

At pre-determined intervals along the path of the conveyor, dependingupon the local topography, support for the return reach 14 of theconveyor belt is required. As shown in FIGURE 1, the return rollers 12are freely suspended from a support stand 4 wherever such support isrequired. The chains 46 and 48 may be easily secured in the ear slots 40at alternate support stands, for example, providing support for thereturn reach of the conveyor belt at approximately twenty-foot intervalsin the path of the conveyor travel. it is obvious, however, that thechain supported return rollers 12 can be easily secured to any of thegenerally regularly spaced support stands.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the crossbar 24, rigidly connecting the uprightstands 16 and 18, is spaced between each troughing idler assembly 8 andthe return reach of the belt 14.

FIGURE 4 shows the relationship of a return roller to the return reach14 wherein the conveyor belt has moved off to one side of the returnroller and caused the return roller to cant relative to the direction ofconveyor belt travel. As is described in the aforementioned application,entitled Automatic Belt Training Roller Assembly for Belt Conveyor, aroller having a large center portion exerts a substantial trainingefiect. This force is exerted, as shown in FIGURE 4 wherein the dottedline arrow indicates the direction of conveyor belt travel, along thesolid line arrow. The eifect is to train the conveyor belt back to agenerally centered relationship on the return roller.

Since the rope seats 26 and 28 and, consequently, the ears 36 extend asubstantial distance upstream of the 4 stands 16 and 18, a suspendedreturn roller has substantial freedom of canting movement and a cantedefiect suflicient to exert a proper training effect of any magnituderequired is permitted.

This device provides a unitary support for the flexible strands of arope side frame conveyor and a freely suspended return roller for theconveyor belt. The combination permits proper belt training by thefreely suspended return roller assembly and eliminates the need forindividual return roller supports. A great saving in conveyor systemexpense is realized with the elimination of a number of heretoforerequired parts. The use of the conveyor assembly is simplified in thatthe time for set up and knock down operations is proportionallyshortened.

only and not definitive and it is intended that the scope of theinvention be limited only by the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination with a belt conveyor of the type in which a plurality oftroughing idler assemblies for supporting the conveying reach of aflexible conveyor belt are suspended at intervals from a pair of wireropes which are trained in generally parallel relationship to oneanother along a conveying course, said wire ropes being supported atspaced locations from ground engaging support stands, the improvementcomprising means for suspending a return roller from a support locationwhich enables the return roller to hang reely and cant as needed toprovide a training effect for the return reach of the conveyor belt,said return roller assembly suspending means including a pair of ropeseats, each one of said pair being secured to a pair of oppositelypositioned support stands, each one of said rope seats having a wirerope receiving bight portion and means for forcing a wire rope into snugengagement with each bight portion, each rope seat having a flangeextending in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of theconveyor in a direction away from its associated support stand, each ofsaid flanges terminating, at its remotest end, in a generally verticallyoriented ear, each ear having a keyhole slot therein, a return roller,and a bodily flexi 1e suspending member such as a chain secured, at itslower end, to an end of the return roller, the upper end of thesuspending member being received in the keyhole slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,773,257 Craggs et al. Dec. 4, 1956 2,797,089 Lorig June 25, 19572,903,770 Hagenbook et a1 Sept. 15, 1959 2,904,166 Stinson Sept. 15,1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 738,598 Germany Sept. 3, 1943

